Jackie called me and asked me to wait in my garage. It was some time after midnight and I had a pretty good idea what she had on her mind.
The horn blew and I hit the button to open the door. She was in her Saab convertible, the lights off and top up.
"Well," she said, "get it off and get it going."
I knew exactly what she meant, and quickly had my clothes off, tossing them through the door and, I hoped, on to the washing machine. I hoped. I grabbed the remote out of my car and walked towards hers, hitting the button once I got out of the garage. I hopped in and commented on how nice the car was.
"Yeah, 2008. I've had it for a few months. But it's hard on gas and, since it's a turbo, it burns 92, which is outrageously expensive," she replied.
I had to smile. I had a 07 Accord and I think she burned more gas getting to the gas station than I burned getting to work. But I wasn't going to tell her that. Besides, she could afford it.
"Where are we off to?" I asked.
"We'll see, honey. We'll see," was all she said.
Soon we had driven out of the neighborhood and headed east. No traffic, although I saw a cop going the other way. But a divided highway didn't give me much worried. And Jackie was driving right at, or maybe just a little above, the speed limit. Which probably made her stand out. Ha!
About 10 minutes after we got on the highway, we were on the Interstate, headed south. It didn't take long for us to get out in to the less populated areas, but still "in town". After about another 20 minutes of driving, she turned on her turn signals and got off at one of the newly built rest stops that TxDOT had so thoughtfully dropped a ton of money into.
There weren't any cars there, but there were three trucks parked in the truck lanes at the far end. Jackie parked at the curb.
"Okay, rookie, let's trade," she suddenly announced.
"Wha?" was all I could say, confused and surprised.
Just then she hit the button and the top started to retract.
"Chinese firedril," she shouted, and hopped out of the car.
"What the fuck," I yelled.
She stood in front of the car, standing in the headlights. "Come on girl, get in the driver's seat."
I started to crawl over the console.
"No way, babe. You come around front." she barked. Kind of menacingly, but in a friendly sort of way.
I choked. Well, it looks like she's forcing my hand. With that, I opened the door and got out. I really thought about running around back, but I knew exactly what she wanted me to do. And so did I. So I ran to the front of the car and she suddenly put two hands up, indicating that I stop.
"You think anybody's awake up there?" she asked.
"It doesn't look that way," I answered. "Besides, they're what, a hundred yards from here?"
Suddenly she held something up in her hand. Another set of keys. She smiled and pressed one of the buttons. THE PANIC BUTTON! The alarm started to go through all of its gyrations, honking and tooting and whiring and only god knows what noises. I didn't, because I was suddenly deaf, dumb and blind. Welded to my spot. Just as suddenly, it stopped. The alarm had been sounding for three or four hours. Or seconds, didn't really matter.
She giggled and ran to the passenger side and hopped in. I suddenly unfroze and ran to the driver's side and slid behind the wheel.
"Onward, James," she said, in her best, deep British accent.
All I could do was stick it in to drive and pull out. Did I say it was a turbo? Well, it took a second, but when the turbos spun up (did I say that I was a race fan? We used to go to lots of Champ Car races and the US Gran Prix) the tires lit up with a squeal and little puff of smoke. As I drove by the trucks I looked at them. No lights. No horns honking. Nothing. I don't know whether I was relieved or disappointed. Relieved, I think. I wasn't ready to get caught, even from a hundred yards away.
About five minutes later, Jackie told me to take the next exit, which was a farm to market road in the middle of nowhere. Well, actually just a little further out than that. I turned right and we headed along a road that was PFB, except for a glorious full moon.
"I just love that moon," she shouted over the wind noise. Actually, it wasn't that windy. When you pay for that kind of car, they engineer the noise away.